Presse-Information

January 20, 2019

Green Week Update – 20 January 2019

The number of the day

140 product kings and queensare appearing today at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture stand and the Farm Experience. It has become a tradition for the first Sunday at the Green Week to be devoted to their royal highnesses who promote regional products from all over Germany.

Topics of the day at the Green Week´

Partner country Finland: Treasures from the forests

Finland is more densely forested than any other country in Europe. Some 72 per cent of its land area (23 million hectares) is covered by trees, which is why forestry is such an important factor, especially with regard to sustainability. However, the Finns do not only use their forests to obtain wood as a raw material. The collecting of berries and fungi is truly a national pastime. The treasures of the forests are available at the Green Week, for example in the form of jams, dressings, liqueurs and wine made from berries, as well as chaga fungus tea. For anyone with an interest in wood a wooden hut containing a grill has also been set up n the hall. These huts, known as grillkotta, are very popular in Finland, where many of them can be found in the national parks and in holiday houses. Hall 10.2, contact: Nina Parzych, tel.: +49 174 307 0019, email:nina.parzych@genius.de

From all over the world

Coastal states present the Baltic Sea Culinary Routes

“We are linked by the water, friendship and peace” says Estonia’s Minister of Agriculture Tarmo Tamm. Because food is another way of promoting international understanding, the countries bordering the Baltic have created the Baltic Sea Culinary Routes, which are being featured in a display at the International Green Week in Berlin. This group comprises 80 regional marketing initiatives and 109 traders whose aim is to acquaint tourists with the culinary attractions of the ten countries. The “Baltic Sea Food” project is highlighting their products in local restaurants and stores. Specialities include salami with fennel and black pepper (Denmark), Stralsund marzipan (Germany), sourdough bread with herbs (Poland), vegetable balls containing hemp and peas (Latvia), black bread with game (Lithuania), cold-smoked elk meat with cranberries (Estonia), home-distilled spirits (Russia), pieroggi with egg butter (Finland), vodka (Sweden) and Lyngenfjord prawn cocktail (Norway). More information is available at www.balticseaculinary.com.Hall 8.2, contact: Bernd Schwintowski, tel.: +49 30 30100100, email:service@schwintowski.com

Wine from the Netherlands at the Green Week – a first

Anyone visiting the stand of the Netherlands at the International Green Week expects to find cheeses, tomatoes and matjes herring. But there is also more on offer. The country also grows wine, something not many people know, and has brought it to the Green Week for the first time. According to Simon Crone, president of the Association of Dutch Winegrowers, the wine industry began low-volume production some 20 years ago, and with the help of German winegrowers has succeeded in steadily improving quality. Currently, around 140 commercial winegrowers cultivate a total of 250 hectares and regularly win awards at international trade fairs. In Limburg and central parts of the country there are four certified winegrowing regions. Their annual production of approximately 1.1 million bottles is sold almost exclusively on the home market.Hall 12, contact: Femke Meijer, tel.: +49 160 96362170, email:femke.meijer@minbuza.nl

Denmark’s attractions include rullepølse on smørrebrød

Set against the backdrop of an historic coach, sustainable organic products form the focal point of the combined Danish stand at the Green Week. Along with the “Smørrebrød maidens” – as they are called in Denmark – canapés with roast beef, homemade salami and “rullepølse” (rolled roast pork with pepper) there are also tasty fruit juices from Bornholms Mosteri and beer from Herslev Bryghus in Roskilde. Snaps Bornholm is presenting a range of eight different spirits such as buckthorn, dill and cucumber, blueberry and lemon, liquorice and chilli with honey, as well as a premium vodka in champagne bottles. Other specialities include onions pickled with saffron from Samsø, liquid organic herbs from Mørkøv and chewing pastilles from Oliver Twist, Denmark’s oldest tobacco factory, founded over 200 years ago in Odense. There are also some brand new items such as ecological, vegan wine gums from Wally and Whiz, free of any additives, lactose, gluten and gelatine.Hall 8.2, contact: Niels Nørskov, tel.: +45 30116792, email:niels@newnordica.dk

Sweden favours home cooking

Home cooking for Evi and Michael Rupp takes the form of elk burgers. “We combine traditional and modern elements”, says Michael, who runs a restaurant in southern Sweden, but is currently cooking on the Swedish stand at the Green Week. The meat of wild elks wild has always been eaten in Sweden, but more recently it has been prepared in the form of burgers too. Rupp is one of more than 20 participants on the combined stand, where all the exhibitors have to be committed to supplying quality products that are also sustainable, as Camilla Bender Larson from the state agricultural authority explains. Among them is Erik Sahlin (www.sahlinsbrygghus.com), one of nine brewers of craft beers, who are serving their products to guests at the Green Week. “We are still looking for distribution partners”, he says. Swedish beer is an ideal drink at the major herring festival on 1 and 2 June in Marstrand (www.sillenshelg.se), which everyone from southern Sweden is promoting here.Hall 8.2, Stand 113, contact: Camilla Bender Larson, tel.: +46 729 744347, email:camilla.benderlarson@jordbruksverket.se

At the Green Week Uzbekistan is inviting visitors on a culinary journey. “We are bringing the unique flavours of local Uzbek dishes and foods to Berlin“, says Nodirbek Barnaev from Uzexpocentre. Main attractions include Plov, the national dish, which can be prepared in over 500 ways, as well as fruit, vegetables and various beverages. Besides growing cotton the country on the Silk Road produces mainly melons, lemons, tomatoes, apples, pears, quinces, cucumbers, onions, garlic and potatoes. “If our products have whetted your appetite in Berlin then you are cordially invited to follow up the experience and enjoy them in Uzbekistan“, says Barnaev. He hopes that following successful talks business deals with Europe will be concluded in the short term.Hall 2.2, Stand 300, contact: Nodirbek Barnaev, telephone: +998 71 238 56 00, E-Mail:b.nodirbek@uzexpocentr.uz

New tea sticks from Russia replace dripping teaspoons and tea bags

Dripping teaspoons or tea bags that cause such annoyance to some passionate tea drinkers are finally a thing of the past. The Teatone company in St. Petersburg in Russia is presenting tea and coffee in stick form at the Green Week. The sticks have tiny perforations and release the typical tea flavour when hot water is poured over them. And what is more, the stick does not drip and can also be used for stirring. The Teatone range consists of black tea with thyme, mint, tropical fruits and green tea. A stick is also available containing coffee powder.Hall 2.2, Stand 100, contact: Sharaf Kochksrov, telephone: +7 (812) 677 90 09, email:sh.kochkarov@teatone.su

World’s fastest mobile beer tap from Slovenia

“Quick Tap is the world’s fastest mobile automatic beer dispensing system, developed and manufactured in Slovenia“, says Rok Miklavc, a brewer by trade. It can fill 1,200 half-litre glasses with cold beer in the space of an hour. Other advantages beside speed are that the system dispenses exactly the same amount of beer every time and maintains a constant temperature from two to five degrees Celsius. Visitors to Slovenia’s combined stand can sample 13 craft beers and one export lager. According to Miklavc, there are currently around 70 craft beer breweries in Slovenia. As well as beer, visitors can buy 20 different chilli products including sauces, jam and chocolate, five kinds of honey and 28 different types of fusion salt on the stand. Another attraction is a plant cultivation system for the home.Hall 6.2, Stand 110, contact: Rok Miklavc, tel.: +386 68 17 35 52, email:rmiklavc@gmail.com

In Estonia the bacon comes out of the sauna

Bacon from Suitsusaun is this year’s new highlight on the Estonia stand at the International Green Week. The meat is smoked for 40 hours at a temperature of 65 to 75 degrees in a special sauna. This speciality is served with rye bread and gherkins. Using VR glasses visitors to the fair can take a virtual tour of a traditional sauna. Completing the display at the fair are elk meat and fish specialities such as Baltic herrings. In addition the Mulgi brewery is offering such special beers as “Mesilind” (honeybee), a lager-type beer with fermented forest honey, “Metsapiiga” (forest maid), a blond ale with raspberries from southern Estonia, and “Libahunt” (werewolf), a dark, porter-type beer, brewed using various varieties of roasted malt and oats.Hall 8.2, contact: Roomet Sormus, tel.: +372 5205857, email:roomet.sormus@eppk.ee

Croatia: Very strong but also very aromatic

Wine is one of the main exhibits on the Croatian combined stand. Five vineyards and merchants are providing an insight into their extensive ranges, and they include the oldest and largest producer of wine and spirits in the country, Badel 1862. On the stand Matheo Konta explains that the soil at some places in the south in Dalmatia is very rocky and rich in minerals, making the red wines very strong and with a fruity flavour. “In general wines from Croatia are noted for being strong but also very aromatic.” And Konta adds: “There is a very wide range, from full-bodied red wines to light white wines that are perfect with food.” The display on the stand also includes baranjski kulen, a specially smoked and air-dried raw sausage, ice cream and chocolates, noodles made without eggs, honey, tea, spirits and liqueurs, as well as lavender products. There are also various products made from and with hemp such as oil, tea, flour, chocolate and cosmetics.Hall 18, Stand 102, contact: Vlatka Kovco, tel.: +385 (1)456 1555, email: vkovco@hgk.hr

Enjoy the Mongolian New Year festival with biscuits and tea

The Green Week is the ideal place for finding out what people eat during the New Year festivities in Mongolia. Crispy biscuits made with wheat flour and yak butter are spread elegantly over a table. They are surrounded by golden bowls filled with valuable stones. On an adjacent shelf there are many varieties of tea made from wild herbs, picked on the high Mongolian plain, as well as vodka made with crystal clear mountain water. In front of them are caps, scarves and socks made from camel and yak wool. “All these products are hand-made – natural and organic from Mongolia”, according to Itgel Nyamtsooj. The Mongolian New Year festival of Tsagaan Sar is celebrated between the end of January and the beginning of March. The precise date is determined by the phase of the moon and the lunar calendar.Hall 6.2, Stand 229, contact: Itgel Nyamtsooj, tel.: +49,177,896 55 68, email: gazarch@t-online.de

Morocco:Enjoyment in colour

Colour is one of the main elements of the Moroccan stand at the Green Week. The North African kingdom presents a colourful but restrained stand architecture that has been “inspired by traditional Moroccan culture and also by the present”, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Visitors are served a small glass of tea while waiting to sample the specialities being prepared by Moroccan cooks. Located outside this room are products from more than 20 cooperatives, some commercial and some supported by public funding. The items range from couscous to argan oil, dates and rose petals as well as prickly pear oil, saffron and caraway seeds. Hall 18, Stand 105, contact: MoroccoFoodEx , tel.: +212 522 305 104, email:eacce@eacce.org.ma

From Germany’s regions

Hesse is getting ready for the next hot summer: the state has included ice cream in its display at the Green Week. Among its many counties featuring in the presentation this year one that stands out is Rheingau-Taunus, a big wine producer, which includes the largest winery in Germany, Kloster Eberbach. Scientists are present on the stage to explain the secrets of a good wine. The cookery shows are also a firm favourite with visitors. Top chef Reiner Neidhart from Karben is alternating with his colleague Teemu from the partner country Finland. Of course there is also music on the stages, as well as the notorious ’Handkäs mit Musik’, a local cheese served with onions and oil.Hall 22a, contact: Bastian Wagner, tel.: +49,177 7000808, email:bwagner@gutes-aus-hessen.de

Irish lace liqueur and smoomo powder from Saxony-Anhalt

Irish lace liqueur from Liederstädter and smoothie powder from the Smoomo company are two unusual, new products in the Saxony-Anhalt hall. The liqueur made from the plant known as Irish lace, for example, is the first of its kind in the world and, although its German name suggests that it is made from liquorice this is in fact not the case. It has an alcohol content of 35 per cent and tastes similar to ouzo, although it is milder and with a slight pepperiness. KATHI has brought six new baking mixtures to the Green Week, including lime cheesecake and blueberry muffins with wholemeal spelt flour. Saxony-Anhalt also features a banner all around the hall, with the hashtag #modernideas. It portrays individual regions in the state, together with well known local personalities, places that have been awarded UNESCO world heritage status, and a modern interpretation of other sites of historic or tourist interest. Also new this year is the Science Stand in Hall 23b.Hall 23b, Stand 200, contact: Sandra Eichler, tel.: +49,391,737 90 19, email:sandra.eichler@amg-sachsen-anhalt.de

Thuringia: Top products instead of cheap items

“A regional identity is becoming increasingly important for many people”, according to Bodo Ramelow, Minister President of Thuringia. “We should use these developments as an opportunity to offer consumers an alternative to the obsession with cheapness. We want to use the Green Week to demonstrate that products from Thuringia are premium products.” And visitors to the fair who come to Hall 20 can see this for themselves. A total of 45 exhibitors from the state are represented on the 37 stands with their culinary and tourist attractions. In addition to such traditional items as Thuringian bratwurst sausages and dumplings, the combined stand also offers gourmets chocolate delicacies from Erfurt, spirits and various cocktails from Nordhausen, pork cuts known as mutzbraten from eastern Thuringia, traditionally baked cakes made by countrywomen in the state, and fresh, homemade fruit juices and jams. This year the regional focus is on the county of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt.Hall 20, Stand 200, contact: Antje Hellmann, tel.: +49 361,574 11 17 40, email:presse@tmil.thueringen.de

Berlin: Ginger and mint drinks arouse a “thirst for faraway places“

The breakthrough came for Ände when they won the Drinkstarter 2017 competition. The story of this start-up from Berlin-Spandau began in Zambia. “We noticed that ginger drinks are commonplace in other countries, and thought that this could work in Germany too”, as Dominik Seele, general manager of Ände explained, on the company’s stand in the Berlin hall at the Green Week. Since then Ände – the company’s name derives from the nickname of the joint general manager Andrea Stenz – has launched three varieties: Ginger Root, Gentle Ginger and a mint drink called Limonana, which is popular all over Israel. These beverages cannot be called a lemonade because their sugar content is under seven per cent. Since their launch in 2016 these bottles are now available all over Germany. They arouse a “thirst for faraway places”: you can taste it.Hall 21, Stand 279, contact: Dominik Seele, tel.: +49 178 8274181, email:dominik.seele@aende.eu